Global Issues in GI/GIS
(as of 5.8.98)
Many issues of importance to the European GI and GIS user and vendor communities are also being discussed around the world, from a global perspective. Here we present an introduction to, and links to, some of the major documents and other discussion sites where global issues are being discussed. One such focal point is the work of the team now investigating the needs of the future Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI), which first met in Bonn, Germany in September 1996 and most recently in North Carolina in October 1997. Both these meetings were convened under the patronage of European Commissioner Dr. Martin Bangemann. Another serious debate is underway regarding international standards relating to GI data and GIS software interoperability. Following the work of the European CEN Technical Committee 287 (CEN TC/287) regarding development of GI data standards, especially relating to GI metadata, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) created Technical Committee 211 (ISO TC/211) to define system interoperability standards for the GI/GIS community. ISO TC/211 is working closely with the Open GIS Consortium (OGC), a non-profit USA-based organisation which has been pressing for greater interoperability across GIS platforms for some years now. Because all major GIS vendors are participating in the OGC work, which is on-going, ISO hopes to shorten the usual delay in creating an international standard by absorbing much of this existing work, as well as that of CEN TC/287. The next major event on the global mapping scene is the forthcoming 3rd Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference, to be hosted by the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific in Canberra, Australia, from 17 - 19 November 1998. The working theme is "Policy and Organisational Framework for a GSDI" and the agenda is available from the host's Web site at http://www.permcom.apgis.gov.au/gsdi3/. And as noted below (see Global Mapping Project) the fifth meeting of the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM) will also be held in Canberra, on 20 November, immediately following the 3rd GSDI Conference. The next (5th) meeting of the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) will be in Beijing, China, from 19 - 23 April 1999. Following the second GSDI (Global Spatial Data Infrastructure) meeting held in October, 1997, in North Carolina, USA, a list of "Findings and Resolutions" was published on the EUROGI Web site, which also hosts a related "discussion forum". It is now fully accepted that a global GI infrastructure will only be built on the basis of existing and/or emerging regional infrastructures such as that proposed in the GI2000 draft Communication for Europe and by PCGIAP for Asia/Pacific, which themselves are based on a multitude of national initiatives. To better understand what is at stake, we provide the links below to direct your attention to the major Web sites where regional issues are being discussed, as well as to the main Web sites for GSDI information. Visit these sites to keep informed on GSDI events.
The Global Mapping Project has the ambitious goal of producing a Global Map by the year 2000. The draft specifications for content of the Global Map have been in preparation for more than a year. The first Global Mapping Forum organised by the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping, held in November 1997, was attended by more than 500 participants. The "Global Mapping Forum '98 - Information for the 21st Century"was held at the USGS EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA from 15-18 June 1998, attended by 62 participants from 15 nations. This second Global Forum focused on the current status of global data and creating partnerships in collecting global data most effectively. The "Global Map Pamphlet" and "Global Map Booklet" are on the home page of the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM). Following the conference, the fourth ISCGM meeting was held, to discuss evolution of the Global Map Specifications and to organise invitations for national mapping organisations to join the Global Mapping Project. Among the nine Resolutions adopted by the meeting were a call for national mapping agencies to take concrete actions as soon as possible in achieving the targets set for the Global Map by the year 2000 as a foundation data set for the GSDI; increased cooperation with space agencies to maximise usefulness of remotely sensed data; begin drafting a strategic plan for maintenance of the Global Map after 2000; support capacity building efforts to promote participation of developing nations and to create a new Working Group to address a policy framework for access to the Global Map product, asses the needs of potential users and draft guidelines for providing the Global Map product. The base data sets are: Global 30 Arc Second Elevation Data Set (GTOPO30) (US Geol. Survey, EROS Data Centre) Elevation (DEM); Global Land Cover Characteristics Database (US Geol. Survey, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln, EC Joint Research Centre) for Land Cover and Vegetation plus VMAP Level 0 (NIMA, USA) for Drainage System (rivers, streams, lakes), Airports, Populated places, Shorelines, Transportation (roads, railways) and Political Boundaries. Many thanks to Mr. Claude Luzet (MEGRIN Executive Director), who attended the Forum, for providing us with the latest news. A more complete meeting report is available in the Global Mapping Newsletter No. 10. Cartographic work moves to Statistics DivisionFrom 1 January 1998, the cartographic work of the United Nations Dept. for Development Support and Management Services (DDSMS) were transferred to the Statistics Division, headed by Director Hermann Habermann. Beatrice Labonne, previously Director of the Division for Economic and Social Development and Natural Resource Management in DDSMS, which was responsible for cartographic functions, has been reassigned. Readers will remember that it was Ms. Labonne who attended the 2nd conference on the GSDI held in October last year in North Carolina, where she expressed strong support for the GSDI initiative. Unfortunately, Mr. Habermann, while acquiring the additional responsibility for cartographic matters at the UN, did not receive any additional funding or other resources.UN proposes World GI CommissionA Special Working Group of Delegates and Experts from the UN Regional Cartographic Conferences (UN RCC) met in Mexico from 25 - 27 March as a result of Resolution No. 2 of the 6th UN RCC for the Americas (held in June 1997), which called for the "establishment of a working group of delegates and experts to define the mission and focus for the 7th UN RCC for the Americas". Two explicit proposals were tabled at the March meeting, one from the USA and one from meeting hosts, Mexico. The meeting resulted in a statement calling for the creation at the UN of a Geographic Information Commission (GIC) which would foster development of GI activities and infrastructure at world, regional, country and local levels, heighten awareness of priority GI issues, develop methodologies and promote standards, and support and coordinate GI activities of UN agencies. The GIC would meet every two years, beginning in 2000. The meeting resolution further called for UN support for the GIC infrastructure and recommended that UN RCCs should be "maintained and invigorated". The resolutions were sent to the UN/Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC/UN) for discussion.The meeting was attended by 23 representatives of 12 countries and 7 international or regional organisations, including CERCO/EUROGI, International Cartographic Association (ICA), ISO, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), Institute PanAmericano de Geografia e Historia (PAIGH) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN Statistics Division. Other news forthcoming during regional presentations at the meeting included the announcement that the Economic Commission for Africa had abolished the RCC for Africa. As soon as the official reports are released from this meeting, we will present a more thorough analysis of the implications of the proposed UN GIC, both for the global GI/GIS community and for GSDI initiatives, generally. We will also be requesting a formal statement from the GSDI Steering Committee regarding how they see GSDI and GIC cooperating in the future. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of the GSDI or of the past and on-going work of the GSDI (creation of the Steering Committee, agenda for 1998 and further meetings, goals, level of global participation, etc.). Statements from those now responsible for moving the GSDI forward indicate that, while welcoming the GIC and any officially mandated global initiative that will benefit the GI/GIS community, they are at the same time saddened by the apparent lack of recognition ensuing from the SWG meeting regarding the work that has already gone into GSDI activities in 1996, 1997 and now 1998. They also note that it will be some time before GIC even holds its first meeting (year 2000), by which time GSDI will (probably) have convened at least three more global conferences, for a total of five in all (annually from 1996 to 2000). Another issue with national, regional and global ramifications involves standards and interoperability, specifically, the way in which the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) and ISO's TC 211 will share the workload in regard to drafting international standards for GI and GIS. Following a much publicized initiative, during 1997, for strong cooperation between the two organizations, some questions were raised as to how this could be achieved at a practical level without creating even more work for both organizations and/or actually slowing the whole standards making process. ISO will take a decision on this issue at the 7th TC211 Plenary/Working Groups meeting in Beijing, 21-25 September 1998. To see the latest update of OGC/ISO TC211 cooperation, look at the March/April "News" page One concern which has been expressed by some individuals and organizations in Europe is that of the strong dominance of North American interests in the OGC, including the largest GIS vendors and US government agencies, and whether this might adversely impact upon the potential GI/GIS standards requirements of smaller European actors in the industry - few of whom have any practical input to the standards making process in either OGC or ISO TC 211. In our February "News" page we presented a summary of journal articles published by Mr. Lance McKee of OGC and Dr. Peter Burrough, Univ. of Utrecht, focusing on exactly these issues. Also, see the May "News" page for a statement from OGC regarding OGC support for, and participation in, GSDI and other global initiatives. Also, OS (Ordnance Survey) of Great Britain recently joined OGC as a Technical Committee member, the first major non-US governmental GI-related agency to do so. The Esprit project GIPSIE may help provide the means for many more European firms and organizations, of all sizes, to become involved in the standards setting process. See the June news for more details. More complete information on regional (European) and international (ISO) standards is available from the Web sites below:
Last Updated: 5.Aug.1998
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